45

Upsets

"I am He who howls in the night;

I am He who moans in the snow;

I am He who hath never seen light;

I am He who mounts from below."

- H. P. Lovecraft, "Psychopompos"

The buzzing of Tentomon's wings competed with the rapid clicking of the keyboard in Koshiro's bedroom. The Digimon watched as his partner worked feverishly on Gennai's program, occasionally consulting with Gennai himself. Koshiro was still monitoring police activity, and knew that calls had been coming in from the Searea apartments for the past few minutes, but he had enough faith in his friends to trust them to handle the situation while he put the finishing touches on the program. It was perhaps their only chance of finding the enemy's base of operations in the Digital World.

Very little remained to be done, and he was confident that he and Gennai would have the project finished within a few minutes. As soon as he had completed it he would be off to aid the others.

Garudamon snatched her hand back after SkullSatamon's weapon tore into it, but slashed at him with the claws on the other. They scraped the long, blood-red bones of one of the demonic Digimon's arms, shredding the scant clothing and drawing sparks but having no other visible effect. Whatever sacrifices might have been made to dye the bones red, the sorcery they had purchased was strong.

WereGarurumon was back in attack position, and lashed out again with a kick that made contact with SkullSatamon, but proved no more effective than the last. SkullSatamon laughed again.

"You two can't make a dent in me!" he shouted, leaping out of the way of Garudamon's talons. "I'm in a different league!"

Yamato and Sora watched the fight unfold from a safe distance.

"The last time a SkullSatamon appeared, it took Imperialdramon to defeat him," Sora said, hearing their enemy's boast.

"But do we really have to evolve to Ultimate?" Yamato asked. "We don't have that kind of power right now! He's at the Perfect level. There has to be a way for them to beat him."

WereGarurumon was grappling with the same question at the moment. They could tear through SkullSatamon's armor, but the bones that made up his body were seemingly indestructible. The wild thought came to him that they might be able to scatter the skeleton's pieces with enough force, though he knew that he couldn't muster attacks any stronger than the ones he had already unleashed.

From what could be seen, there were only two parts of SkullSatamon not composed of bone. There were his wings, and there was that strange, pitch-black sphere in the center of his chest. The latter looked important, and it might be vulnerable, but getting an attack in would require precision because of the ribcage guarding it.

SkullSatamon brought his staff down in an overhead swing. WereGarurumon managed to jump out of the way, leaving the weapon to splinter the pavement. SkullSatamon raised it again, and WereGarurumon saw his chance. Instead of dodging he leapt directly at his enemy.

"Kaiser Nail!" The claws flashed out, reaching for the black core behind the red ribs. The attack was partially successful. While there was no way of avoiding the bones entirely, there were several deep scratches made in the Dark Core's smooth surface.

SkullSatamon let out a yell of anger and pain, abandoning his original plan of attack and lowering his weapon for defense as WereGarurumon nimbly moved out of the way. Garudamon made another lunge forward, hoping to get a hit in from behind, but SkullSatamon made a jump up and forwards, kicked off one of the apartment building's balconies, and landed, putting both of his enemies on the same side.

"Not too bad," he said, calm again, but with something of his carefree attitude gone. "But it will take more than that."

"Alright then!"

WereGarurumon ran forward to make a follow-up attack, but now SkullSatamon was ready for him. The demon quickly maneuvered his staff, pointing it at the oncoming Digimon.

"Nail Bone!" A beam of light shot from the yellow orb at the end of the staff, striking WereGarurumon full in the chest. Immediately he was converted into light himself, shrinking, and falling to the ground as Gabumon. SkullSatamon laughed, but it was a muted sort of sound.

"I guess you won't be giving me the fight I wanted," he said. He sounded genuinely disappointed. "I still haven't met the Digimon that can stand up to Nail Bone."

Garudamon was gazing down at Yamato's fallen partner. She knew that it would be nearly impossible to bring down the enemy by herself. Had she been able to use Shadow Wing, it might not have been a problem, but she couldn't launch such an imprecise technique in a place where so many humans were in danger of being hurt.

SkullSatamon seemed to be in no rush. After making his attack he had not moved, but stood waiting for Garudamon to react to the situation. He turned his head briefly to get a look at the cluster of Digimon near the opposite building.

"Guess after I kill you two I can take the humans and get out of here," he continued, fixing his sockets back on his opponent. "Baalmon won't need any help. Wish you had been more of a challenge." He leisurely moved his staff into position. But Garudamon was struck with sudden inspiration, and interrupted him.

"Maybe I would be a challenge in the sky," she suggested.

SkullSatamon paused. Slowly a grin spread across his face, and he lowered his staff.

"That's a good idea!"

But neither of them moved. SkullSatamon looked past Garudamon to where Yamato was standing with clenched fists, unable to go to his defeated partner, and Sora was waiting anxiously to see if hers would meet the same fate.

"Go on, then!" the demon said to Garudamon. "I'm not interested in those weaklings yet."

Hesitantly, she flapped her gigantic wings and left the ground. SkullSatamon crouched low before leaping up an incredible distance to follow her. Somehow his own tattered wings were able to bear his weight, and soon the two Digimon faced each other above the roof of the apartment building.

MetalGreymon took a step towards Baalmon, but both of them knew that it was an empty threat. Keeping Daisuke between himself and Angewomon, the demon took aim at MetalGreymon's face. Taichi's partner lowered his head as the red bullets slammed into his helmet. After the initial volley, Baalmon took careful aim at one of MetalGreymon's exposed eyes.

Just before the trigger was pulled, however, Daisuke had swung both of his legs forward and then back as hard as he could, kicking Baalmon with both feet. It was not nearly enough to free him from Baalmon's grasp, but it did ruin the shot. The bullet missed the eye entirely, shooting a hole through a lock of the cyborg monster's feathery hair instead.

"You intend to stay troublesome, then?" Baalmon asked. He swept a wide area before him with his right hand, firing continuously. MetalGreymon was hit in the legs, and stumbled as they gave out beneath him, while Angewomon flew upwards just in time to avoid the attack. Quickly, Baalmon released the pressure of his hold, dropping Daisuke to the ground, then kicking before the boy could regain his balance. Daisuke went sprawling, barely catching his fall with hands that the pavement tore. Baalmon aimed his gun at one of Daisuke's legs. "Well, no one said I couldn't maim them."

"Daisuke!" Taichi yelled in warning.

"Angewomon!" Hikari called, her voice shrill with concern.

Her partner did not let her down.

"Saint Air!"

Daisuke had clenched his eyes shut to prepare himself for the coming pain, but after a second or two of quiet he opened them, wondering what had happened.

Baalmon stood still, shielding his eyes. There was a halo of light above Angewomon's head, radiating a power that nearly blinded him and burned in his body as a pervasive pain. In fact, the sensation was not dissimilar to what Angewomon had felt after Dashenbian had stung her. His gun came up, but he was firing blindly, and none of the bullets found their target.

Daisuke struggled to his feet, stumbling away from the enemy, his head kept low to avoid possible gunshots. Angewomon's technique harmed only dark Digimon, so Daisuke could see the way ahead, and the other two Chosen Children watched his escape and urged him on.

Above, Angewomon had readied another Holy Arrow. She called her attack and let the arrow fly. However, either Baalmon's instincts or reflexes were enough to save him. Overcoming his discomfort, he leapt backwards, and the arrow struck the pavement just before his feet, scorching the stone. The halo above Angewomon began to fade.

XV-mon had gotten back to his feet by this time, and stepped forward to meet his approaching partner.

"Daisuke!"

"XV-mon! Are you ready to fight?"

The Digimon nodded, and with Daisuke at his side began to rush towards Baalmon.

"X Laser!"

The light beamed forth from XV-mon's chest, heading towards the enemy. It struck Baalmon directly. There was nothing but his upraised arm to shield him. Daisuke let out a whoop to see the attack hit, but the sound was met only with derisive laughter that changed his expression from elation to confusion.

"Don't celebrate yet," Baalmon said. "I told you that an Adult-level Digimon would be no match for me. Even when you aren't my shield you're a burden to your friends."

"You—"

But Daisuke's outburst was cut off by Taichi's voice.

"Stay back, Daisuke."

"He's too strong," Hikari chimed in.

"Without Ken here to Jogress, you won't be able to hurt him."

"But…"

Daisuke's hurt at his friends' lack of faith could be seen plainly in his expression.

"We'll handle this battle," Taichi said, his tone too final to argue with.

"You'll all be dead soon enough," Baalmon said. "Guiltish!"

The demonic Digimon's cape fluttered and billowed without wind to move it. The inner lining seemed alive with paper talismans, shuddering of their own volition, rolling like ripples on a pond. They detached themselves in a flurry, spraying in the direction of the three Digimon and Daisuke. The papers changed in midair. They were now knives and needles.